Reports are that a catastrophic system failure of the second NASA’s ‘Glory’ Satellite is believed to have caused the craft to crash into the ocean somewhere near Antarctica. The onboard Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO) was a satellite system designed to measure how tiny airborne particles in the atmosphere affect the earth’s climate.

Satellitegate conspiracy talk reared its ugly head again as soon as the rocket exploded shortly after take off from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.The satellite was, in fact, a replacement for the first OCO that also exploded in 2009 in similarly strange circumstances. Again, cynics are suggesting foul play.

The OCO system was designed to be instrumental in finally settling the global warming debate.The observatory would have been able to show scientists precisely how much energy is falling from the Sun onto Earth.

Thus researchers could have precisely calculated how much, if at all, human emissions of carbon dioxide were altering the climate; perhaps even proving that the scare over man-made global warming has been a hoax all along.

‘Lightning Strikes Twice’ to Thwart Climate Researchers

According to experts it appears the same problem that doomed the 2009 OCO launch has led to a second explosive failure causing further embarrassment to the faltering trillion dollar US space agency. The back-to-back ‘Taurus XL’ failures have resulted in losses totaling nearly $700 million.

Despite NASA’s “ thorough investigation” and assurances that a problem with a detachable heat shield on the nose of the satellite had been fixed ‘lightning struck twice.’

“Exact same rocket, exact same failure” said BBC’s Science Correspondence Jonathan Amos who told BBC News viewers (March 4, 2011) that the “clam shell” nose cone covering that protected the rocket failed to detach properly five minutes into the launch.

The BBC speculated that the rocket might have been either too heavy or too slow precipitating the failure of the nose cone to detach; thereby the rocket’s trajectory fatally altered causing the craft to explode mid-flight.

More Proof to Deepen the SatelliteGate Scandal?

With yet another $250 million investment now laying on the bottom of the ocean floor the world is again left without reliable measurements of atmospheric carbon dioxide.

As this author first exclusively reported in 2010, there are grave and persistent problems not only with both the OCO rockets but other satellites designed to measure climate change as shownhere, here, here, here, here, hereand here.

The OCO was “the only satellite in the world that will do the kind of global collection we need,” said James Lewis, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and one of the authors of a 2010 reporton satellite monitoring of climate change. “And we haven’t thought about how to replace it.”

So will this turn out to be yet another ugly chapter in the Satellitegate scandal?A news conference is scheduled for later today to discuss this failure and how NASA will proceed. For updates check theNASA website here.